


Kill Clark

by Greenlady



Category: Smallville
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-19
Updated: 2010-09-19
Packaged: 2017-10-12 00:26:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/118799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Greenlady/pseuds/Greenlady
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chloe learns that Clark wiped her memories, and declares all-out war.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kill Clark

'Sir. You have a visitor.'

'Tell him I'm busy, Mercy.'

'It's a young woman, Mr Luthor. A Ms Sullivan.'

'Chloe Sullivan? What does she want -- never mind, Mercy. Show her in, but stay close.'

And so Ms Chloe Sullivan came walking into my office, cool as a cucumber. I stood, politely, and offered her my hand, which she refused. I pretended we'd shaken hands, and waved her to a seat.

She sat down, and so did I.

'So, Ms. Sullivan, to what do I owe this pleasure?'

'Cut the crap, Luthor,' she said. 'I know you hate me.'

'You know nothing of the kind, Ms. Sullivan. You attribute motives to me, which I've never....'

'I know you hate me,' she went on. 'You are full of hate for everyone and everything good in this world, because you're evil and ugly and you know you can never be as good as... and you... you....'

'Thank you, Ms. Sullivan. That will be all. I'll take your job application as my conscience under consideration, and let you know soon. Don't call me, I'll call you. Please don't bang the door on your way out. Mercy?'

'Your conscience? You? Lex Luthor and the word "conscience" in the same sentence? Don't make me laugh!'

'All right. I won't. But, just to be on the safe side, if you really don't want to laugh, I suggest you leave, now. Otherwise, I'll have Mercy show you out, and Mercy doesn't have much patience, do you Mercy?'

'No, sir,' said Mercy, gravely.

'I'm not leaving until I've said my piece,' said Chloe Sullivan.

'Oh, I think you already have,' said I.

'I know you hate me,' she said, for the third time, as if the conversation had just begun, and I'd said nothing. 'I know you have no conscience. I want to make it clear I know these things.'

I said nothing, staring at her blankly, waiting for her to go on.

She stared back for a long moment, and, when I said nothing, nor did I react in any way, she finally went on, 'And, I need your help.'

'My.... help?' I said. 'Mercy? Did I hear Ms. Sullivan properly, or am I going deaf? Did she say she needed my help?'

'Yes, sir,' said Mercy. 'She said she needed your help.'

'I knew you'd mock me,' said Chloe.

'Like you knew I hated you, and that I have no conscience,' I replied. 'I believe that's what they call a trifecta. And so, your work here is done? You're leaving now?'

'No, you bastard. I need your help, and I'm not leaving until I get it.'

'In such cases, I believe the proper procedure is to ask for help, not to demand it in some sneering manner. But then, you are friends with Clark Kent, aren't you?'

'Not any longer,' said Chloe Sullivan.

'Okay, Mercy. That does it. Take Ms. Sullivan and throw her out in the street.'

'Listen, you bastard,' Chloe screamed. 'Do you think I came to you for fun?'

'Fun? Yes, that's just what I think. This is a trick to get me to confess to a crime, or to assault you in some way. And then your friends in the Justice League will come barging in and beat me up. I'm not as stupid as you obviously think.'

'Stupid? No. Evil? Yes. And for once I'm glad for your evil, because I want you to help me kill Clark Kent.'

**************

I followed Mercy down to the lead-lined, Kryptonite-protected dungeon where Chloe Sullivan had been my guest for the past two days.

'Well, Chloe,' I said. 'Clark Kent is not looking for you, nor is the Justice League. They seem unaware that you're missing -- or at least unconcerned. That isn't proof of the truth of all your story, of course. But we're going to let you out of here, and join us in the upper levels of LexCorp.'

'Thank you,' said Chloe, dryly. 'You're so kind.'

'I am kind,' I replied, as we entered the elevator. 'If I were as evil as you think me, you'd be enjoying the view from the bottom of the nearest river at this moment. Have they been treating you well, down here?'

'Well enough,' said Chloe. 'The food is good. I watched a lot of DVDs. I'm a bit bored.'

'I'm only going to say this once, so pay attention,' I told her, as we left the elevator and started down the hall to my office. 'If you betray me, Chloe Sullivan, boredom will be the least of your worries.' I waved her into my office, and pulled out a chair for her. 'Sit!' I told her. 'Explain this to me again.'

Mercy took up her station by the door, watching Chloe carefully.

'I've already explained,' said Chloe.

'Explain it again,' I said. 'In a more coherent manner this time.'

'I was perfectly coherent.'

'And leave out the insults, I'm warning you. Just tell me what it is you want, and why.'

'I told you. I want to kill Clark.'

'Kill Clark? Is this like Kill Bill? He put you in a coma for years? And stole your baby? What?'

'No. Of course not. But I told you, he wiped my memories. Do you know what it's like, to lose a part of yourself?'

'I do indeed,' said I, but she ignored me.

'Do you know what it's like to not be sure if you remember something for real, or it's just your mind repairing itself and filling in the blanks with fantasies?'

'Yes, I do.'

'Do you know what it's like....'

'Chloe! I know what you're talking about, because the same thing happened to me, okay? What I want to know is, so what? Why do you want to kill Clark all of a sudden, and why should I help you?'

'I want to kill Clark because he violated my mind. He violated yours, too, you know.'

'Did he? When? I thought that was my father. My father had me mindwiped, yes. I found the records among his papers after he died.'

'After you killed him, you mean,' said Chloe.

'After he died, I found the records among his papers,' I repeated. 'What does that have to do with Clark?'

'Clark tried to stop you from regaining your memories,' Chloe told me. 'He went to Lionel to stop you.'

'I know that too.'

'So, that's why you hate him.'

'I've never hated Clark,' I said, but I could see from the look on her face that she didn't believe me.

'You tried to kill him,' she said at last.

'He's dangerous.'

Chloe took a deep breath. 'He is dangerous,' she said. 'I didn't think so once, but now I know. I was his most faithful friend. I helped him more than anyone, and he forgot that.'

'I helped him, too,' I said. 'Many times. He didn't care about that, and neither did you.'

A look of outrage flashed across her face, but she suppressed it. 'Yes,' she said. 'And then there was that time when you got shot in the head. We wanted to find Kara, and you knew where she was....'

'Because I got shot in the head protecting Kara.'

Again that look of outrage. 'Yes,' she admitted. 'And your father had a machine that let Clark enter your mind. Clark invaded your mind, to find Kara.'

'And he found her,' I pointed out. 'So that's how. No one told me.'

A momentary look of satisfaction crossed Chloe's face, this time.

'You were the one who was let in on every secret,' I said. 'And you kept me out of them all, all the secrets -- or most of them. You still used me whenever you needed help, until you became friends with my father, and Oliver Queen. Then you didn't need me any longer. I was expendable, but you thought you were above all that, didn't you? You thought you were essential.'

'It wasn't like that!' Chloe shouted.

Mercy took a step forward, but I waved her back.

'And now you've learned you're not above it, and you come to me,' I went on. 'When I was the one trying to kill Clark, I was evil, and you tried to stop me. But the shoe's on the other foot, now.'

'Are you going to help me, or not?' she asked.

'I'm going to help you,' I said. 'But not because I hate Clark. Clark is dangerous. He needs to be controlled, at least. This world needs someone who can fight him. I built a new suit to give me superpowers, but it must be tested. I'll give you a model, and you can try it out. I'm not promising it will work, but it's the newest model we have.'

'What proof do I have you're not betraying me?' she asked.

'None,' said I. 'What proof do I have you're not betraying me?'

**************

Chloe Sullivan stood on the roof of LexCorp, staring out across the city of Metropolis.

'Well,' I said. 'I guess you have your wish. You're probably as strong as Clark Kent. As strong as Lana Lang. Do you still want to kill Clark? You could declare your independence and set yourself up as a superhero.'

'I hate him,' said Chloe. 'He treated me as if I were nothing. As if I had no right to my own mind. As if I were no better than you.'

'Yes, that must have been hard to take,' I said. 'What are you going to do after you kill Clark? Come back here and kill me?'

'Maybe,' said Chloe.

'I built that suit,' I reminded her. 'I know its capabilities and its weaknesses. I'm not without defenses.'

'I'll remember that' she said, and then she leapt off the tower, and flew toward her destiny.

***************

I followed all subsequent battles with great interest. At first Clark seemed not to believe in the seriousness of Chloe's intentions, but he soon learned. He was the more experienced warrior at first, and if he'd taken her seriously, might have finished her off then and there. But he thought she would forgive and forget, and when he won the first battle, tried to make up. That was his first mistake.

His second mistake was blaming me.

He showed up at my offices, and attempted to assault me. I was prepared for such an event and Mercy, armed with Kryptonite bullets held him off.

'What have you done to Chloe, Luthor?' he bellowed.

'What have I done? Only what she wanted. What did you do to her?'

'Nothing!' roared Clark.

'That's not what she told me.'

'So, you are involved in this?'

'Only insofar as she insisted. She came to me, Clark. She asked me for help. Demanded it, rather. Do you want to see the tapes? I recorded the whole interview.'

'I don't believe you. It's a lie. Any tapes you have are doctored.'

'No, they aren't,' said Chloe, from the doorway. 'Thank you, Lex,' she went on. 'The suit works beautifully.'

'He's manipulating you, Chloe,' said Clark. 'He's brainwashed you.'

'No,' said Chloe. 'You brainwashed me. I warned you, Clark. I told you what I'd do.'

'I didn't believe you,' said Clark. 'I still don't. Chloe. We're friends. We've been friends for…'

'Friends don't mindwipe friends,' said Chloe. 'You treated me like... like....'

'Like she was me,' I suggested. 'You treated her like me. Like she had no right to her own mind.'

Clark stared at me, in obvious confusion. 'When did I treat you like that?' he asked. 'I never did anything to hurt you.'

'Chloe told me all about it,' I said. 'How you invaded my mind to look for Kara.'

'I had to find her,' he said.

'Why?' I asked. 'She'd been missing for ages. I found her. What was the big emergency?'

Clark shrugged, and turned away, like nothing I said mattered. 'All you care about is yourself,' he muttered. 'Chloe? Don't listen to him. He's convinced you I'm your enemy, but I'm not. Let's go somewhere and talk.'

'Get out of here,' said Chloe. 'I'm tired and hurt from the fight, but I'll face you again, if necessary. Right now, if you like.'

Clark sighed. 'I'll go,' he said. 'But call me tomorrow, and we'll talk.'

'Yes,' said Chloe. 'Tomorrow.'

**************

They fought the next day and the next. By now, all the Justice League was ranged with Clark against her. The end was inevitable.

I watched the final battle through a telescope. I could see that Clark tried to stop Oliver Queen from killing Chloe, but the other Justice League members held him off long enough. Clark cried out in agony so loudly that it broke windows -- though not in the LexCorp tower.

I snapped my telescope shut, and turned to Mercy. 'Get ready,' I said. 'He'll be coming here, next.'

I thought Clark would arrive in a rage, but he was cold as ice. 'We are enemies for life, now,' he said.

'I thought we were enemies for life already,' I replied.

'You turned my best friend against me,' he said.

'You know, Clark. For a man with super hearing, you don't listen much. I didn't turn Chloe against you, you did that yourself.'

'You are evil, Luthor, and you twist everything you touch into evil. I was trying to protect Chloe. I was trying to keep her safe and innocent and pure. I didn't want her to become like you -- filled with the lust for power, and revenge. You made her like that.'

'If blaming me, and hating me gives you comfort,' I said. 'Then go right ahead. I'm used to it. But know this. The suit I gave to Chloe -- at her request -- works. It worked better than I'd hoped. It was a prototype, and I accumulated a lot of information during your battles. Soon I'll be ready to outfit an army with those suits. If you, or any of your friends -- Kryptonian, Human, or Mutant -- try to take over this world, I'll be ready.'

'You're deluded, Lex Luthor,' said Clark. 'We're here to protect the world against you.'

'Well, then,' I said. 'I'm sure the world must feel very safe now. I guess Chloe didn't die for nothing.'

Clark took a step closer to me, but Mercy had her Kryptonite bullets at the ready and he backed off. 'Don't you ever say her name again,' he said.

And then he was gone.

 

***The End***


End file.
